20010607011799A

(-23)Aircraft departed ffa on a sightseeing tour, at approx. 300 feet AGL, engine lost power. Aircraft made force landing in a field, hit a sand berm and flipped over. (.19)on June 7, 2001, about 1534 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 207, N1670U, registered to and operated by kitty hawk aero tours, nosed over during a forced landing shortly after takeoff from First Flight Airport, Kill Devil hills, north carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no Flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR part 91 sightseeing Flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial-rated pilot and four passengers sustained minor injuries. One passenger sustained serious injuries. The Flight originated about 3 minutes earlier from the First Flight Airport. The pilot stated that the fuel tanks contained approximately 35 gallons total and before takeoff of his First Flight that day in the accident airplane; the fuel selector was positioned to the right tank which contained approximately 20 gallons of fuel. He performed an engine run-up before takeoff with no discrepancies noted. During the initial climb after takeof f with 10-15 degrees of flaps extended and the auxiliary fuel pump off, the engine quit when the Flight was approximately 200 feet above ground level (AGL). He turned on the auxiliary fuel pump to the "high" position and maneuvered the airplane towards a field. He lowered the flaps to 30 degrees and turned off the auxiliary fuel pump before landing in the field at an indicated airspeed of approximately 80 knots. The airplane rolled a short distance then collided with a berm and nosed over. (.4) the fuel tanks were fueled the night before the accident date and were confirmed to be full during a preflight the morning of the accident date. The airplane was then repositioned and flown on 10 sightseeing flights by a company pilot other than the accident pilot, all with the mixture full rich. The fuel quantity gauges indicated decreasing quantity of fuel during the flights and the gauges indicated more than 1/2, and less then 1/4 respectively sometime during the last Flight. The accident pilot relieved the pilot who had flown the 10 sightseeing flights, at that time the airplane had been operated for 3.75 hours since fueling. The accident pilot reported he v isually checked the fuel tanks though all the adult passengers stated he did not. The Flight departed and at 200 feet MSL, the pilot later stated that the engine quit when he reduced power to 25 inches manifold pressure. He maneuvered the airplane for a forced landing in a field, and touched down with full flaps at an indicated airspeed of 80 knots. The airplane touched down, the nose landing gear separated from the airplane, and the airplane then collided with a 6-8 feet high sand dune. The airplane came to rest inverted on top of the sand dune. Examination of the fuel lines at the fuel selector valve, at each reservoir fuel tank, and at the fuel control unit revealed no fuel. No fuel was found in the auxiliary fuel pump, engine driven fuel pump, or reservoir tanks. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right fuel tank which was calculated to contain 7 gallons of fuel; the unusable amount of fuel in the tank is 3.5 gallons. The engine was placed on a test stand, impact damaged components were replaced or repaired and the engine was started and found to operate normally, no discrepancies were noted. Testing of the fuel gauges revealed they were operative. Testing of the fuel transmitters revealed several discrepancies. The average fuel consumption over a 9-DAY period was 15.14 gallons per hour; the airplane had been operated for 3.79 hours since fueling at the time of the accident. The operator had a procedure in place that required the pilot to dip the tanks during preflight and the chief pilot to randomly dip the tanks during the day; the pilot did not dip the tank before the Flight and the chief pilot did not randomly dip the tanks throughout the day. The dipstick used to dip the tanks was in fact a wooden paint stirrer with a "full" mark annotated. No graduate marks beneath the full mark was noted. The service manual indicates that the fuel quantity indicators and transmitters are required to be checked every 50 hours and also during a complete inspection of the airplane. The airplane was inspected last on may 11, 2001, using an approved checklist that consisted of the inspection chart found in the service manual. The airplane had accumulated 48 hours since the inspection at the time of the accident.